The report called the welfare of the nation's marine resources "guarded," with a need to remain vigilant. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service in the report's Executive Summary, the collapse of some of the nation's fisheries, the poor welfare of some Pacific coast salmon stocks, and serious declines in some marine mammal populations are examples of situations that deserve special attention.
Groat noted that while the United States is blessed with a rich and often amazing diversity of plants, animals and ecosystems, not enough is known about even the baseline status of most of the country's resources.
"Although we know a great deal about some biological resources -- such as birds, large mammals and some fish species -- information is often spotty, incomplete or nonexistent for most taxonomic groups," Groat said. "We don't, for example, know the status and trends of many species of amphibians and reptiles, of invertebrates, of a great number of plants, of smaller mammals, and of the vast majority of ocean dwellers. And yet, information presented in the report gives great cause for concern about certain populations of these lesser studied species."
For example, said Groat, in the Rocky Mountains, western toads now occupy less than 20 percent of their previous range, and prairie dog populations have declined an estimated 98 percent. And in the Southeast, 73 percent of the freshwater mussels are at risk.
The report does document some good news, said Dr. Michael Mac, the USGS project
director for the report. For example, efforts to clean up the Great Lakes have
been successful in reducing the levels of toxic chemicals, enabling bald eagle
populations to recover in the region, and have also reduced excessive amounts of
nutrients from the lakes, which, in turn, has sparked the resurgence of
burrowing mayfly populations in Lake Erie. In addition, many of the nation's
raptor populat
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Contact: Catherine Haecker
catherine_haecker@usgs.gov
703-648-4090
United States Geological Survey
17-Sep-1999